Last month, the American Institute of Architects made a series of significant announcements. Its highest honor, the Gold Medal, for 2021 will not go to an architect who is famous as a form maker but to the environmental innovator Edward Mazria. The Architecture Firm Award will be bestowed on Moody Nolan, the first African American-founded practice to be so recognized. And, after years of refusal, the AIA board voted to amend its code of ethics to bar its members from designing chambers of execution, torture, and solitary confinement. In a wide-ranging conversation with record editor in chief Cathleen McGuigan, CEO Robert Ivy talked about the current direction of the AIA. While he touched on ongoing activities including lobbying, advocacy, and research—as well as its recent deal with True Wind Capital, a private equity firm that is investing in the Institute’s AEC contract documents program—Ivy focused largely on key principles underlying the organization’s current mission such as action on climate change and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Here are highlights, condensed and edited for space.
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